The first sprint race of the 2022 season (which will have another two) left more emotion than the three last year, and we experienced one more duel between the two great contenders for the world championship. Charles Leclerc took advantage of a Max Verstappen problem at the start to take the lead, but the Monegasque ran out of tires at the end of the test and the champion overtook him to win at Imola .
Thus, the Dutchman takes the 8 points of the victory and will start first in Sunday’s race, after annoying the party for the Ferrari fans for the second day.
Leclerc, without tires, will have to try again this Sunday from second position, in a race that seems exciting with the 2 vs 2 battle between Ferrari and Red Bull. And it is that Checo Pérez and Carlos Sainz asserted the pace of their cars to come back and finish third for the Mexican (started 7th) and fourth for the Spaniard (started 10th).
Behind them, as ‘first of the rest’, the two McLaren F1’s finished with Norris ahead of Ricciardo . They will share the fourth row with Bottas , seventh with the Alfa Romeo and a Magnussen who lost ground after starting on medium tires. The Dane finished eighth and took the last point at stake.
Fernando Alonso left empty-handed, ninth classified after suffering problems at the start and after being overtaken by Sainz and Bottas . The Asturian, however, will start in the points zone this Sunday, on the fifth row of the grid alongside Mick Schumacher, who closed the top 10 but did not add up either.
In a race without pain or glory, the Mercedes did not take any spotlight and will start 11th (George Russell) and 14th (Lewis Hamilton).
Imola 2022 F1 sprint race results, 2022 Emilia Romagna GP
Click on (see results to enjoy the entire table)
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
21 | – | ||
| 2 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
21 | 2.975 | 2.975 | 2.975 |
| 3 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
twenty-one | 4,721 | 4,721 | 1,746 |
| 4 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
twenty-one | 17,578 | 17,578 | 12,857 |
| 5 |  Lando Norris |
 |
21 | 24.561 | 24.561 | 6.983 |
| 6 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
21 | 27.740 | 27.740 | 3.179 |
| 7 |  Valtteri Bottas |
 |
21 | 28.133 | 28.133 | 0.393 |
| 8 |  Kevin Magnussen |
 |
21 | 30.712 | 30.712 | 2.579 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
21 | 32.278 | 32.278 | 1.566 |
| 10 |  Mick Schumacher |
|
21 | 33.773 | 33.773 | 1.495 |
| see results | ||||||
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
2022 F1 Imola Sprint Race Summary, 2022 Emilia Romagna GP
Leclerc surprised a Verstappen with gear problems and stole first place. In fact Norris was also about to surprise the champion, who kept the second position. Alonso, who already had some problems to start the formation lap, dropped two places and was passed by both Pérez and Ricciardo, falling to seventh place just ahead of a Sainz who was already eighth after the first corners.
Magnussen, who started fourth, was one of only three drivers to start on medium tyres, and he held onto that position despite a questionable maneuver with Pérez in which he zigzagged down the straight leading to the black-and-white (warning) flag. .
Before the end of the first lap, Guanyu Zhou suffered an accident after touching Pierre Gasly in turns 8 and 9, which caused the appearance of the Safety Car . Gasly had to go through the pitlane to change the nose, in a stop that lasted more than 30 seconds, while the safety car grouped the peloton.
The race restarted on lap 5 of 21, with Sainz quickly attacking Alonso. Despite a good defense by the Spaniard, on lap 7 the Ferrari driver finally took seventh position. Pérez also had no problem, with DRS, snatching fourth place from Magnussen, while Sainz closed in on Ricciardo.
With DRS and much more speed thanks to his better engine, Valtteri Bottas would pass Sebastian Vettel at the start of lap 9. On lap 11, Pérez moved up to the third step by passing Norris, and Ricciardo accounted for Magnussen. Sainz had to wait for the main straight to do the same and continue the pursuit of the Australian’s McLaren from lap 12.
Magnussen continued to suffer on his medium tires and Alonso took advantage of it to hit hard. Sainz passed Ricciardo at the start of lap 14 and had seven laps to go to catch up with a Norris who was just under five seconds ahead.
Bottas latched onto Alonso with the DRS activated and although the Spaniard moved to defend himself (receiving a black and white flag), the Finn managed to do so at the start of lap 16, quickening his braking for the first corner.
With less than five laps remaining, Leclerc began to suffer graining on a front tire and Verstappen managed to get within range of DRS. And while the Dutchman tried to account for his greatest rival, Sainz overtook Norris to be fourth.
On lap 20 of 21, with two laps to go, Verstappen made the winning overtake on Leclerc, taking the lead and controlling until the checkered flag to spoil the tifosi party for the second day in a row and win the first sprint race of the season.
Before the checkered flag, Mick Schumacher slipped the second Haas into the top 10 by passing a slow Aston Martin of Vettel for 10th. In fact, Russell and Yuki Tsunoda would also pass the four-time champion at the last minute.
